Shk Ahmed Deedat's Books

Was Jesus Sent to be Crucified

One of the fundamental beliefs of Christianity is that Jesus had died and allowed for the shedding of
his blood for the sake of granting forgiveness to people. In other words Jesus had died on the cross
as a sacrifice for our sins. Let us investigate this topic from the Bible, and find out wliethei' Jesus
:was sent to be crucified or that he wtis ciiicified

Willingness of Jesus Christ to Die for Onr Sins 1

Peter and the two sons of Zebedee were with Jesus Christ before the elders of the people and tlie
chief priests came to take him to crucify him. Jesus ^ this point talked to Peter and the two sons of
Zebedee as in Matthew 26:38 "Then siUOi he tutto Otem, Afy soul is exeeedmg sorrowftU, even
unto deaOi: lany ye here, andivatchw&h /rte. "Then Jesus went a little fiirtiier way from them and
prayed to God as in Matthe^v 26:39 "AndhewentaliUle^fiirOier, andfettonhisfiiee, and pitted,
string, O my FaOter, (fit be possible, let Otis cup pass Jrom me: nevertheless not as I will, biitas

".thou wilt

It is very cleai' from the above verse in Matthew 26:39 that Jesus had no intention of dying. In this
verse it is shown that Jesus was praying strongly (Mattheiv mentions that Jesus repeated these
prayer three time) to have this death removed from him. Had Jesus Christ been sent to be crucified
he would not have hesitated to be killed at all. When I relate this to my Christian brothers, tiiey tell
me that this hesitation comes from the flesh side of him (in other words he was tempted), and that
his soul vdiich is godly does not have this hesitation at all. When we look at Matthew 26:38 we see
that Jesus is contradicting this ideaby s^ing, "Afy soul is exceeding sorrotvfli^ even unto deaOi."
(MattheH' 26:38). He himself s^s that it really his sou! that is hesitating and not his body. These are
.Jesus' own words

:God Answered the prnyn's of Jesus Christ .2

After Jesus made the above mentioned prayer he ^vas answei^edby God according to Hebrews 5:7
"WhoinAedt^sofhisJIesh, when be bad offered up prayers and si^plicationsivilh sb-ong
crying and tears unto him that was able to save bimjrom death, and was beard in Oiat he
feared " These words clearly show that wdien Jesus was praying strongly to God, God would grant
him his request. The word "heardinAatheJeared" (Hebrews 5:7) mean that God granted him
\^4lat he requested. So the above verse ^ows that wiien Jesus asked of God to "let Ais cup pass
Jrom" (Matthew 26:39) him, God respond to his prayer and saved him from death or crucifixion

:ThePost Cmcifixion Prophesied Evmts never happened .3

When the people were asking Jesus Christ if he was going to showtiiem a sign. He replied by
saying that the only sign that they should expect is the sign of Jonas. Jesus also made sure to specify

ludiat exactly tiiis sign was. The details are shown in the following verses

I qf^e scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying. Master, v

Matthew 12:40 For as Jonas rvtis&ireedi^s and Siree nights in &ie whale's belly; so shall the
.Son ofnum. be Oiree days and Oiree nights in the heari of &ie earth

Jesus here emphasized what will h^pen to him by specifically saying that he will be like Jonas in
tenns of the number of days and nights he will be in the heart of the earth, " For as Jonas wtis
^ree dt^s and dtree H^hb in die whale's belfy; so shall Ihe Son oXnian be three dt^s aud three
.nights in die heari of die ear^." (Maltheiv 12:40). Noivletus see if this prophecy came to pass

Jesus was ciiicified on Friday, this is certainly known among all Christians, and that is the reason
for calling that Fridf^ by "Good Friday". Jesus was biuied on Friday night. Now let us start
: counting

.Friday night Jesus was buried This is night niunber 1.1
.Satiu^ay day Jesus was still in the grave. This is day number 1.2
.Satiu^ay night Jesus was still in the grave. This isnight number 2.3

nrly in die momiitg diejirstd/iy of die week, diey catne lutto die sepulchre
y die sione front die door of

.Mark 16A And when dtey looked, they saw diat the stone was rolled away: Jor it was very great

Malic 16 .5 And entering into die sepiUclire, dtey saw a young man sitting on die right side,
.clodted in a long white gfimteitt; and diey were affrighted

Thenumber of days andnights that Jesus had spent in the heart of the earth is 1 day and 2 nights.
This clearly challenges udiat Jesus had prophesied When I tell this to my Christian brothers, some
of them responded by saying that »4iat Jesus wanted to really s^ was that he will be gone for a
while, and not that he will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. This is clearly
not the case. Had Jesus meant that, he would have said it, but it is clear that he wanted the people to
knoiv that this H'as a sign (miracle) and that it will be like Joans' sign, and that he will be in the
.heart of the earth for three days and ftree nights. These -were his own words

?'Wliy Would Jesns Have to Die on the Cross

According to the Christian doctrine, Jesus died onttie cross as a sacrifice for our sins. The ideahere
is that every human is bom with sins, or that all humans will sin, and tiierefore it tvas necessary that
someone as pure as Jesus would be the crucified to nullify these sins. The question is; vAy does
anyone have to die for our sins vi4ien God, the All-Mercifiil, could as easily give us foigiveness if
we ask for it? Isnt God the one wto makes the rules? Why does He have to make someone suffer
for our sins or for someone else's sins? Isnt that unjust of Him? According to the Bible the vi^ to

Iredemption could be obtained without the need for sacrifice. The Bible says

Ezekiel 18:20 The sotU Otat suuuOt, UshaUiHt. Ttte son shatt not bear ^e iniquity of OiefiOher,
tieWter shall ^efi^er bear ^emiqidty of Ae sou: Oie righteouvuess of ^e righteous shall be
.upon hiui, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him

Clearly the soul that sins shall die. Clearly that no one shall bear the iniquity (sins) of others. So
Jesus cannot bear the sins of others either. If one is righteous then it shall be upon him, and if one
commits a sin then it shall be upon him, and not on Jesus. Finally, the way to repentance and
.foigiveness is by turning fiom all sins, doing wiiat is right, and keeping the commandments

Also we see the same message given by Solomon. He says in the book of Ecclesiastes 12:13 "Let
us hear &ie concbisioH of ^e whole nuUter: Fear God, and keep his eomntaudmenti: for this is
the whole duty of man. " This is the wiiole message, and this is the conclusion of messages. It is
.that one should fear God, and keep the commandments, and nothing else

Again in 2 Chronicles 7:14 "If n^ people, which are caUedbyn^name, ^all humble themselves,
audpray, and seekmyfice, and turn fiom Aeir wicked ways; ffien will I bear fivm heaven, and

will forgive &eir sin, andwUl heal &eir land" This clearly states that to seek forgiveness from
.God we have to humble ourselves, pray and seek God, and turn aivay from ^ckedness

Finally the Bible s^s in Samuel 15:22 "And Samuel said, HaOi the LORD as great delight in
burnt offerings and sacryices, as in obeying Ae voice of die LORD? Behold, to obey is better
^ansacryice, and to hearken than Ae^fiit of ra^^" This clearly states that obeying God is better
that sacrifice wiietiier this sacrifice is of objects, animals, or humans, or any otiier type. What God
likes is for us to heed and obey Him, and if that is what God likes then it is not of Him to come later
and change his mind, and change his wf^s. God says in the Holy Qiu^an, "Verity God isAH-
.{EnowMg, All-Wise" (Ch 9: Vr 28

Now that we have seen this. Christians say that Jesus has changed some of these laws. Let's look at
what Jesus says. In Matthew 5:17 "Ulinknotdlatlamcome todesAvythe taw, or die propheb: I
am not et^ae to destroy, buttofiUfll" Jesas clearly states that he was not sent to abolish the law,
&e law of Hliich had already existed. So what is mentioned above cannot be discounted. Then Jesus
continues to say, in Matthew 5:18 and 19 "For verify I say nnio you. Till heaven and earth pass,
one Jot or one tUtle shall in no wise passjrom Sie law, till all befiiljilled Whosoever Oterefore
shM break one of these least eommandutents, and shall teach men so, he ^all be called die least
in the kingdom of heaven: but n^iosoever shall do tmd teach Oiem, the sante ^all be called great
in the kingdom of heaven, " Jesus here states that not even as much as a dot (tittle) shall not pass
from the law. Every thing is kept the way it was. That is wliy the previous laivs cannot be removed

"be shall be called Ae least in Ae